Past, Present, Future
by Katie1995
Summary: AU: One-shot! Takes place during Breaking Dawn. What was Esme thinking and going through during the stand off in BD? What would have happened if Aro had asked for her hand as well? Please R&R!
1. Past, Present, Future

**A/N – (I don't own twilight or the characters in any way.****All credit goes to****Stephanie Meyers.) **

**(Takes place during Breaking Dawn)**

**Past, Present and Future**

**Esme's P.O.V.**

So this is where everything ended. My whole life had been lived to face this? Carlisle, my family, they were everything to me and now, after today, I wouldn't see them again. For once Carlisle's theory of heaven for our kind didn't comfort me as I look into the ruby eyes of a killer.

I shouldn't really be scared of death. I've faced it multiple times in the past, and yet now I have everything, I'm not so sure. Of course Charles had made me wish for release, but that was because I had nowhere to run. And now, looking back, I realise not only me, but everyone I love is in the same situation. We have nowhere to run.

The wind picked up rustling the leaves in the trees and sending whispers no-one could understand around the field we stood. My family were tensed around me; waiting for that moment death would claim us, me, and Carlisle. The wolves' bristles were on edge as their ears twitched with uncertainty.

Carlisle, my Carlisle, was in the presence of a killer and I couldn't save him if it went wrong. How calmly he spoke, how confidently he walked up to him and greeted him. My heart broke as _he_ returned the pleasantries with a smile.

Aro.

Aro was a good actor; you never knew what he was actually like. He would fool you into a false sense of security, and you wouldn't realise it until the last moment. Like my past husband, he would trick you into believing he was a friend. A friend with prospects, but of course, I knew different. Unlike Charles though, you could see through the lines. He would crack and you would know something was up, but not today. Today he was being careful, for himself and for his "jury."

Ragged breathing was all I could hear from behind me. Aro hadn't said anything yet, but low voices could be heard in the distance. Suspense was broken when he opened his mouth.

"Oh well, we're all together now! Isn't it lovely?" His slight frown was replaced with a smile as he took my mate's hand, shaking it. I felt myself grimacing as my dead heart jumped from my chest. My life line was gambling his life, my life. If he died, I would as well.

"Carlisle..." I whimpered. It was basically a whisper but all the pain I felt went into that one word. All my worry I put into that one word.

I didn't think anyone would've heard or taken any notice, but I was wrong. Not only had Carlisle heard. Aro had heard as well.

His greedy eyes snapped to my face, viewing my features as my stability started to slip. He smiled slyly at my state. I couldn't face him properly for if I did, I wouldn't just see him, I would see Charles as well, and that scared me more than it should do.

"Esme..." Carlisle responded with the same heartfelt emotion.

Edward walked up behind me linking his hand with mine.

"We won't let anything happen to him." His mouth was by my ear as he tried to keep our conversing quiet.

"We second that." Rosalie added.

_I can't lose him..._

"I know..." His words brought no comfort as quiet exchanges took place between the angel and the fallen. "I'm monitoring the situation." I nodded, unable to speak as once again. Aro's eyes had found mine. His mouth pulled up into a small but tight smile.

_Can he hear us?_

"Yes." I bowed my head so I was looking at the floor. "He wants Carlisle to react to your unease."

_No._

"Yes, just try to not react to him. It's what he wants."

"I'll try." Edward gave a wobbly smile as he tried his best to comfort me, which was wrong. I should've been comforting him, but Carlisle looked so vulnerable by himself.

"He knows how to look after himself."

"I know..." Edward's grip tightened as he grimaced at what he had just heard.

_Edward?_

I felt the tension rolling off of everyone, not just on our side, but their side as well. Nessie clung to her mother's shirt, her head in the crook of her neck. Bella looked angry, scared and rather strained as she tried to come to terms with maybe losing not only us, but her daughter as well.

"Esme, darling, you know we won't hurt him..." Aro's voice caught my attention as he smiled in my direction. His arm was around my husband's shoulders. "...That's if you don't give us reason to." He continued. I felt a lump forming in my throat. If I lost him, not only would he be lost, but my family would surely die as well.

My moment of bravery came unexpectedly as Aro's eyes bored into mine. "You have no reason to be here. Nessie is not an immortal child, your accusations are wrong." I kept eye contact as he sighed, looking back at Irina.

"But my love, we have proof."

"False proof." I interrupted. "Renesmee grows, eats, blood runs through her veins!" My voice was desperate. "She even has a heart beat!"

"Come here." He had his hand outstretched. I looked round at my family's faces. My cousins stood inhumanly still, shock evident in their features. Rosalie looked angry. She mouthed a silent "no" at me as I looked at her. Our witnesses were coiled, ready to spring. Edward stood like a statue next to me.

I took my steps measured as Carlisle caught my eye, they held sparks of worry. Bella flinched forwards a step, my head snatched up to meet her, shaking an obvious no in her direction.

"Don't." He whispered.

"Why ever not old friend? I think it's time we get to know each other better." Carlisle hung his head as I came closer. "Please could I have your hand?" I gulped the venom flooding my mouth, Aro stood only inches away from me. I couldn't concentrate as I lifted my hand to his. I closed my eyes as I felt his touch, afraid to open them again unless the horrors of my past were to torment me again.

Aro mimicked me. His eyes we closed as he breathed evenly in and out. I kept my breaths even, my chest rising and falling in even intervals.

My whole life was being shown like a movie before his very eyes. Every memory, every touch, and every kiss he got to see. Everything me and Carlisle did he could see. Our most intimate moments were on display as he picked through my mind, opening a chest full of treasure with the only key available. My human memories were on display, no matter how hazy, they were still detailed enough to shame me. Every memory he saw with perfect clarity. Everything that made me who I am today was being replayed in his head.

"I see, I see." He lessened his grip as he opened his blood red eyes. "I see the resemblance Esme, but do you really think I'm like him?" I heard growls from behind me, Edward was angry. Carlisle turned his head to look at me, his eyes questioning.

My throat was dry as I tried to answer. "Yes."

"Why ever would you think that?"

"You say you see the resemblance?" He nodded his eyes wary. "Then surely you must understand." I didn't know where my courage was coming from, but the adrenaline helped.

"Of course. Oh Esme dear, the way life has treated you." I felt a growl rising in my throat. "What that man did to you." Carlisle barred his teeth as a hiss escaped his mouth. "How defeated you seemed."

"Don't." My voice was timid as I tried to tune him out.

"But Esme, look how strong you are now. I'm not like him. I won't hurt you without reason." My growl finally escaped as his witnesses tensed, their war cries responding to mine.

"I came here to defend my family, Aro, not to discuss the past. You can see that Renesmee is innocent, and if you kill her, you will add another crime to your already long list of war crimes."

"I see Esme. I see how she grows and I see how she learns, but you must understand she's a liability."

"She's not. She understands she's special, she won't reveal our secret." I kept my voice strong as Carlisle's hand found mine.

"You can't prove that. If she's the only one of her kind how can you be so sure?"

"Because I know her parents, and they only want the best for her." He released my hand as I let it drop to my side.

"Like I said, we need proof. May I?" Aro now held his hand out to my Husband. He looked away as he gave him what he wanted.

Aro's features were inquisitive as he viewed my mate's memories. A smile pulled up the corners of his mouth.

"No matter how many times I see into your mind, dear friend, you never cease to amaze me." I turned my head away. The parents of the family were hanging by a thread as we gambled with ours and other's lives. One wrong word, one wrong action and we could be gone in a blink of an eye.

"What you say is obviously true."

Carlisle interrupted. "So you have no reason to be here anymore."

"But we do." I ran a hand through my hair as I started to lose my grip on the situation.

"You came here to see if she was an immortal child, did you not?"

"We did."

"So why can't you see all the proof we have is true. Ask our witnesses, Nessie herself! Your accusation has been proven false." His milky white features were shocked, his black eyebrows went up. After a moment his laugh rang out through the trees, startled birds taking wing as he smiled widely.

"You see Esme, Carlisle, you've put me in a very difficult situation, a rather...embarrassing one even. I came here to find a solution, but I now see it's been flipped. I'll have to talk with my brothers." He bowed his head before turning to meet Caius and Marcus.

No one knew what would happen now, only Edward had the ability to know their decision.

The past had come back more than once, and now it was the present that would affect our futures. Only fate could help us now.

**A/N – I know this didn't actually happen in Breaking Dawn, but I thought I would put a twist on it and make a one-shot of what would happen if it actually did. Esme may be OOC...I'm not sure though...**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please review! Thanks Katie1995.**


	2. Don't

**A/N – (I don't own twilight or the characters in any way. All credit goes to Stephanie Meyers)**

**Don't**

**Carlisle's P.O.V.**

"Oh well, we're all together now! Isn't it lovely?"

Aro's eyes were level with mine. The only difference was the colour, and of course, the age. I could see the years reflected in his eyes as he smiled politely at me. I could see the animal through his facade, and I could see the danger we faced.

I stepped forwards again, keeping my gaze steady with his.

"Carlisle." I heard Esme's pained cry from behind me. I faltered, but it took all my strength not to turn back, go up to her, hold her in my arms and say goodbye, and feel her one final time.

Edward's soothing voice cut through the gloom. His words assuring her the best they could that I would be okay. That I knew how to look after myself, but I knew from past experiences these words would barely comfort her now. She like me, wanted to have the physical contact we wouldn't be able to have again, not after today. We had no hope. I didn't want to admit it, but we had no chance what so ever.

"Yes." Edward answered an unstated question. "He wants Carlisle to react to your unease." I shook my head slightly, clearing my mind. I couldn't react, no matter how much I wanted to, for I knew it would cause more trouble than resolutions.

"No." She whispered again.

"Yes, just try not to react to him. That's what he wants." I ground my teeth together, suppressing a growl.

"I'll try." She whimpered.

Breaking my heart even further I took another step.

"He knows how to look after himself." I closed my eyes, remembering for a final time everything Esme and I had been through together. The bad times, the good times, everything. Every touch and kiss I was reliving.

"I know." She replied irritated, and that for a moment, lightened my mood. Esme, my Esme.

Aro shuffled in front of me, his voice filling the silence that had shrouded us in its cloak.

"Esme darling, you know we won't hurt him..." I wanted to take him down right now. How _dare _he when it was him who had caused this to happen! How dare he be so calm about this, and above all, how _dare _he call my wife "Darling."

A soft growl fell from my lips.

"...That's if you don't give us reason to." Esme stepped forwards from behind me. A soft "no" whispered through the wind.

"You have no reason to be here." She stated plainly, as if talking to an ignorant child. "Nessie is not an immortal child, your accusations are wrong." I breathed out, not realising how hold I had been holding my breath.

The predator before me sighed, laughing slightly as if waiting for an unimportant reply. "But my love" – He started again, - We have proof."

Esme's voice rang out strong and proud. "False proof." My hands found one another, wringing together. She continued her argument, and I found confidence in her. Confidence in her and in myself. She was doing what we thought was impossible, she was fighting back.

Aro changed his stance. It was almost wary in the way held himself. He, Aro, was wary of _my _wife. A smug smile pulled up the corners of my mouth that was until, he held his hand out. I knew what he was going to ask even before he said it.

"Come here." Gasps were audible behind me. My body froze and my eyes snapped shut.

One word fell from my mouth. "Don't."

Aro's eyes found mine, an if possible, the red burned even brighter. Desire was all I could see.

"Why ever not, old friend? I think it's time we get to know each other better." I hung my head, my eyes closed again as Esme's soft footsteps grew closer.

He asked for her hand, the hand I should be holding. But I wasn't, and it hurt me to know what he would see every intimate moment of our lives together. Every touch and kiss, everything, he would see, and it irritated me beyond words could describe.

He dropped her hand, a soft smile pulling his lips up ever so slightly. His words shocked me momentarily. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"I see the resemblance Esme, but do you really think I'm like him?" He couldn't be talking about him. Not Charles, that was taking it too far.

A hiss was threatening an appearance. I couldn't risk it, not in this situation. I had to keep my calm. I looked behind me, my eyes reading her like a book. I could feel them asking her a secret question; "tell me what's wrong."

A yelped "yes" fell from Esme's lips.

Aro was surprised like always, with the answer she gave. But of course, he pushed her to her limits.

Memories, I knew, still affected her. And as she tried to live through her fears, Aro tried to destroy her with them.

"Oh Esme, how life has treated you." This man, if he pushed her any further wouldn't live to see tomorrow. "What that man did to you." The building his escaped my mouth. Caius' milky red eyes found my now dark orbs. "How defeated you seemed."

_Stop, just stop! _I wanted to scream it! Scream it in his face, stop him from hurting _my _Esme by using her only weak spot.

Esme was obviously affected as a sharp "don't" sounded in her voice.

Oh my darling, my love. How I wish I could just envelope her in my arms, hold her and never let her go, defend her from _him, _from the dangers she now faced. I was her shield, her protector, and now, as the Volturi stood before us, I knew what I wanted to do and what I had to do were two completely separate things. She looked so alone, so small, and although I knew she was much stronger than what her physical appearance showed, I was still scared for her.

Whispers spread across his witness line as Aro continued his battle against my wife. Words fought words as Esme's soft hand found mine, our fingers twining together. Growls responded to my wife's and the spoken war continued onto a more solid issue. His strategy hadn't worked, Esme, if she was momentarily thrown came back stronger and more determined than before.

"I see Esme. I see how she grows and I see how she learns, but you must understand she's a liability." Aro stood. Defiantly ignoring my wife's truth.

I looked back at Edward, Bella and Renesmee. My son, my daughter and granddaughter. They had just experienced life together, Renesmee was barely two months old, and yet as we stood on this cold winters day, she would probably lose her life today.

My other son stood with an emotionless face. Emmett, the man who was still a boy at heart looked defeated. For the first time in his life, he looked defeated. I wanted to walk up to him, touch our foreheads together and look him in the eye, _promise, _we would live through this, but who was I to _lie?_

Rosalie, my porcelain doll looked like Emmett, if not a little haunted. It took so long to get through to her in the beginning, and even now, after nearly eighty years, I was still learning about her. She was a complex character, still blooming like summer flowers in so many different ways. If only I could kiss her cheek, hug her to me; comfort her like a father should. And, I couldn't.

"I'm sorry." Everyone looked to me, their faces shocked. Esme's hand tightened around mine, and as if robotically, I lifted my hand, giving it to Aro.

My permission allowed him to see every part of me. My thoughts, my memories, were part of him now, and in a way, that made _me _part of him.

His grip loosened and my hand fell to my side.

"What you say is obviously true." Breaths caught behind me.

"So you have no reason to be here anymore." Courage came from the warmth of Esme's hand in mine.

Still he didn't give in. He continued his useless interrogation that was until Esme lost it. Her words sent definition throughout the entire population on the field.

Aro sighed as he looked at me, and then to Esme. "You see Esme, Carlisle; you've put me in a very difficult situation, a rather...embarrassing one even. I came here to find a solution, but I now see it's been flipped. I'll have to talk with my brothers." His thin figured disappeared back into the line of shadows.

Esme's hand stayed in mine, and although Aro seemed to be breaking, it was still a long run. This could end badly, and all I knew is that if I burned, Esme had to escape, alive.

**A/N – So basically, this is the same chapter, but in Carlisle's P.O.V. **

**I hope it wasn't boring...or repetitive in ways...**

**Anyways, if you enjoyed, Please Review! Thanks, Katie995 :)**


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